Playmate

Playmate


Yondy looked up from his paperwork to make sure Sasuke and Naruto hadn't started another fight. The two boys were laying down in front of the tv playing a video game. The insults had gotten louder, but the two 7 year olds had yet to start attacking each other.

"Ha! You totally suck, jerk wad!"

"Then why are you losing, moron?!"

"I'm not losing, I've got more points than you! And don't call me that, brat!"

"You're the brat, stupid!"

"Am not, asshole!"

"Hey!" Yondy jumped into the argument. Both boys turned to look at him with wide, guilty eyes. "No cussing. If you're having trouble thinking up appropriate insults then go look in the thesaurus." Both him and the Uchihas had given up on keeping the two boys from arguing and calling each other names, but they did demand some regulation on the words they used.

"Sorry, dad." Naruto said.

"Sorry, Uzumaki-san." Sasuke also apologized even though he wasn't the one to say the cuss word. Sometimes Yondy thought they made a very cute pair.

"Haha! You crashed!" Naruto said after they turned back to the game.

"It's your fault, idiot!"

Yondy sighed and went back to his work he had stacked on the coffee table. Sarutobi was going to be retiring soon and had asked him to run for mayor in the next elections. It wasn't that he was against the idea, he loved the fact that he could make the place better, but his would-be opponent, Orochimaru, was already starting a smear campaign. It was as if he didn't have enough problems to deal with. Suddenly the front door jumped as someone started pounding on the door furiously. The boys jumped as Yondy stood up. It didn't take long to discover who was at the door.

"Open the damn door, Yondy! I know you're at home! I want to see my son! Yondy! Do you hear me you son of a –"

Yondy yanked the door open, which stopped his ex-wife's rant. The red-headed woman glared at him and tried to push past him to get into the house, but Yondy didn't budge. "What do you want, Kyuubi?" Yondy said as flatly as he could.

"You know what I damn well want, where is my son?!" The woman demanded. A quick look towards the living room confirmed that both Sasuke and Naruto had disappeared somewhere.

"It's not your weekend, you have no right to see him now."

"I don't care, he's my son, mine do you hear!" Once again the woman tried pushing her way inside, this time, though, she surprised him and managed to slip inside. Yondy immediately went after her and tried to restrain her but she swiped at him, her long nails scratching long gouges into the skin of the man's face.

"Get out, or I'll call the police." Yondy really didn't want to resort to violence, but he wasn't going to have the option here soon. Kyuubi, followed by Yondy, turned into the dining room where they came upon the boys.

"Oh, the Uchiha brat is here too." Naruto was sitting on the floor with his back to the wall. Sasuke was hugging the blond boy to him in a protective manner while he glared up at the woman.

"Yes, his father is on his way here to pick him up, you will leave now or the police chief himself will be arresting you." Yondy grabbed Kyuubi again, hoping she'd clear out, but the woman just jerked her arm away and ignored him.

"Come to mommy, Naruto." The blond whimpered slightly, refusing to look up at his mother.

"Leave him alone, bitch. Or my dad's going to put your sorry ass in jail!" Sasuke snarled at the woman.

"How dare you talk to me that way, you piece of shit!" Before Yondy could react Kyuubi had struck out, slapping Sasuke so hard that he tumbled over. Naruto reacted instantly, jumping over Sasuke's body in a protective stance.

"Go away! Just go away, mommy!" Naruto's blue eyes pleaded with his mother, his tears running down his face.

Yondy grabbed the woman again, this time he didn't care if he hurt her. Using his grip he tossed her into the living room just as a shadow fell over the open front door.

"Don't you dare touch me, you son of a bitch!" Kyuubi was screaming and thrashing about. Suddenly Yondy saw someone else reach in and slam the woman down so hard that she laid still, only able to groan in pain. Yondy looked up into the angry dark eyes of Fugaku Uchiha.

"I told you not to open the door if she came around again." Fugaku ground out, his voice vibrating with fury.

"Sorry." Yondy muttered back.

"I know you don't think I understand that you don't want to look weak or how embarrassing it is to have some hysterical bitch pounding on your door, but you have children in this house so you need to just suck it up." Fugaku lectured.

Yondy had heard it all, and he knew better than to open the door, but it was embarrassing for others to know that he had married such a woman and now couldn't even keep control of his own household. How would any of the voters trust him enough to take care of the entire city?

Fugaku looked up as Naruto and Sasuke shuffled back into the room. The skin around Sasuke's left eye was starting to darken, as was his cheek. Blood was also dribbling from a cut on his lip. It reminded Yondy that his face was also bleeding. The elder Uchiha's face darkened in anger as he took in his son's appearance.

"Damnit Yondy!" Fugaku seethed. The blond man winced as the Uchiha snapped cuffs onto the prone woman. "Lady, you just made a big damn mistake." The dark-haired man growled to the red head.

Fugaku stood up as he jerked the woman up to her feet. Kyuubi seemed to be gaining some of her senses back as the woman started to grumble and jerked about. The man steered the woman out of the house as Yondy took Sasuke to the kitchen and grabbed the first-aid kit. Before he could do more than dab at the blood, Fugaku came back.

"Don't bother, Yondy. I'm going to take him to the hospital to have his wounds documented. I've also radioed in for someone to come take your statements." Fugaku went towards his son and picked him up. The seven year old hadn't said a word since he'd been hit, but his glare was firmly in place. For a second or so, though, his eyes shifted to Naruto with a look of concern. The blond boy hadn't said a word either, and he continued to cry silently, only giving a small sniff or hiccup every once in a while.

"I can take Sasuke to the hospital if it will get Kyuubi into jail quicker." Fugaku seemed to consider that and then nodded curtly before setting Sasuke down on his feet.

"I'll have your mother pick you up from the hospital. I'll come home a little later to see if you're okay." Fugaku said to his youngest.

"I'm fine, can Naruto come stay over?" Sasuke finally spoke up. Fugaku and Yondy shared a look. Yondy wasn't about to impose on the man when he had just gotten his son beaten up.

"If Yondy is alright with it, I think that would be a good idea." Fugaku finally said. Just then a couple of uniformed officers came into the house. Yondy went and grabbed Naruto's overnight bag and he and the two boys were escorted to the hospital.

Yondy and Sasuke were both treated and their wounds documented. The detectives decided to wait until tomorrow to take the boy's statements and Mikoto picked them up while Yondy's statement was taken.

Later that night, Naruto's sleeping bag had been rolled out next to Sasuke's bed but remained empty. Instead the blond boy was curled up next to the other boy on the bed. Every few minutes the blond would start crying and Sasuke would rub his back in assurance. The two seemed locked away in their own little world until Mikoto came to check in on them.

"Boys?" The dark haired woman walked slowly into the room. Sasuke looked over his shoulder at his mother while Naruto attempted to quiet his sobs. Mikoto smiled sadly before moving to the bed and gathering Naruto up. Her son glared at her for her efforts but didn't try to take the blond back. "It's alright to cry, Naruto." The woman cradled the small boy and let him cry out against her breast.

"Why?" Naruto's voice was hoarse. "Why isn't my mommy more like you? What did I do wrong?" The blond's crying intensified, sobbing uncontrollably into Mikoto's chest.

Sasuke eye's had widened in shock. Never once had he ever heard Naruto say something like that. He'd always shrug off any mention of his mother as no big deal. Even when Kyuubi had shown up at their school and made a scene, Naruto just shook his head and smiled. The small Uchiha looked up at his mother and for the first time really understood his friend's pain. Sasuke was so very grateful for his own mother. Scooting over, Sasuke wrapped his arms around his smaller friend, his hands going around Naruto's shaking form and latching onto his mother's shirt. Mikoto wrapped her arms around both boys and just let the blond cry everything out.

Even though the next day was a school day, Mikoto decided to let the two small boys stay at home. Itachi had tried and failed to get to stay home but Fugaku had dropped him off at his school on his way to work. Shortly after that Sasuke came down from his room. Mikoto was slightly surprised that Naruto wasn't with him, as she expected Sasuke to be overly protective
of the blond.

"Mom." Sasuke stood a little away from from Mikoto as she prepared some breakfast.

"What is is, sweetheart?" Mikoto looked over at her son and stopped what she was doing when she noticed the serious expression on his face.

"I wanna, um. I just wanna say . . . thank you." Sasuke whispered the last part as he ran over and gave his mom a tight hug. Mikoto instantly hugged the dark-haired boy.

"What for, sweetie?" Mikoto asked.

"For being a great mom." Sasuke didn't give Miktoto a chance to react before he ran upstairs back to his room.